When it comes to shopping for Christmas gifts for little boys, there usually isn’t a lot of guesswork involved. Most boys have no problem with being straightforward with what they want. Action figures, video games, legos… they know exactly what they want and will give you a detailed description and where to find it upon being asked what they want for Christmas. Yes, we must enjoy this time while it lasts because before we know it they are teenagers and NOT as easy to shop for…
But what about when it comes to a gift that will connect them to Jesus? A gift that will deepen their relationship with their Savior and the Father? Well, there it gets tricky… But I’m here to help! As a mom of 5, 3 of them boys, these are a few gifts that I have given my sons over the years that they actually enjoyed and didn’t get tossed aside.
(I admit that I am piggybacking on Emily’s posts, 5 Christmas Gifts For Girls That Will Connect Them To Jesus Part 1 and Part 2… Feel free to check them out by clicking on the links in the sentence above or on the photos below:)
Music weaves its way into everything in our home naturally. Rather than having my little guys listen to just anything, I try to make sure that 99% of what they listen to lifts up the King of Kings and draws them closer to Him. Sure, we still listen to fun silly songs and what not, but most of the time I try to turn on Christian music that the kids will enjoy and help them grow spiritually. Some favorite singers/bands amongst the boys in our home are The Newsboys, Family Force 5, TobyMac, Hillsong Young & Free, Hawk Nelson, Capital Kings… and quite a few others.
Our family actually has an Amazon Music subscription, making it quite a bit easier for us to access all the albums we love. If your family is constantly buying new albums, this may be a great option as a family gift for you!
Another gift idea that ties in here: Concert tickets! My 9-year-old still says 2 of the greatest events in his life were the 2 separate times he got to see The Newsboys in concert, with the time he got to meet them as his all-time favorite. This was actually a Birthday gift, but it was a gift, nonetheless. While it was a lot of fun for me, I did hang my head in embarrassment when his idea of complimenting Michael Tait was telling him that his arm muscles looked like “tiny bubbles”.
To most kids, a standard Bible might seem a bit dull. Thankfully these days, there are many options when it comes to time for devotion and study. Even for kids! A few of the favorites in our home are The Adventure Bible, the Boys Bible (which includes Grossology… lol), and The Brick Bible.
My kids LOVE to read! I know not all do, but maybe the right book could change that. Books by Becky Fischer and Answers In Genesis have been big hits in our house lately. This Christmas, some gifts will be Indescribable by Louis Giglio, The Ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New by Marty Machowski, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Hinds’ Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard, The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan, and quite a few others.
Look for a film that either has a biblical message or tell an actual Bible story. You know your child best, so pick a theme that would strike a chord with them. When my kids were younger they adored VeggieTales and Larry Boy. Now that they are a bit older, they watch the Dreamworks movies, Joseph King of Dreams and Prince of Egypt, almost repeatedly. Not surprising given the love of Newsboys in our home, they also love to watch the God’s Not Dead series. War Room is another favorite!
Boys love to work with their hands, that’s no secret. Each child also has their own creative talent and/or interest. Find things that line up with those but can draw them closer to God. Have a child interested in playing an instrument? Teach them about King David and purchase some Christian sheet music. Does your boy love imaginative play? Try an Armor of God playset and explain the purpose of each piece to him. Almost all boys love Legos! Proverbial Homemaker has a few different Brick Challenge sets for sale (and a few free!) that are biblically themed. You can’t go wrong there!
Do you have any other ideas or gifts that you have given in the past that were a hit? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
He is RISEN! Hallelujah! Jesus has risen from the dead!
Enjoy these free Easter printables as a reminder that we are no longer slaves, for we have been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb!
Download your printables by clicking here.
God bless!
Hear the bells ringing, they’re singing alright… and so am I!
Sorry, I just can’t help myself. Easter is my favorite day of the whole year. I can’t contain it! I have to SING about it!
A few years ago I attempted to do a music series for Easter and quickly realized that it is impossible. There are just too many songs out there! Songs about the gospel of Easter, songs about Holy Week leading up to it, songs about the blood and the healing and redemption that it brings, and glorious songs about the resurrection and grace. Think about it… the list never ends!
Since then I have compiled a list of songs that pertain to this special time of year. Some are songs we sing all year. Some are saved especially for this Holy Day.
So I’m going to share it here with all of you as well… but can you do me a favor? If you know of an Easter Song that has not made the list, can you let me know? Thank you!
(And yes, we added the Veggietales Bunny Song. We couldn’t contain ourselves…)
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel yet? Every week we add playlists of our favorite worship songs from the Women On The Warpath Facebook Battalion. Want to enlist in the Battalion? We’d love for you to join us!
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 KJV
Have you ever had a sore that just itched? You tried so hard not to scratch it, but eventually, you give in and do. Sometimes you are so careful not to scratch while awake, but do so while sleeping and wake up to a bigger sore? What happened? Did you get an infection? We all know what happens with an infection if untreated… Sepsis can poison the blood and/or the infection can reach the heart. If continually untreated, it can eventually lead to death. This can happen quickly, or very slowly, but an infection can not be ignored. However, if we don’t scratch, we can prevent it from spreading.
Right now, all across the world, infection is quickly spreading through the church due to itching ears being scratched.
It begins with a little tingle. A little bit of falsehood that doesn’t even seem like it may matter. From there it grows into a doctrine that contradicts scripture but is presented in a way that seems right because it has been garnished with twisted out of context scripture.
BEWARE! Do not let this infection spread into your heart and soul! Clean those itching ears and stop the spread of infection with cleansing scriptures from the Word of God!
The Word of God is the medicine that can cleanse and cure this infection. Here are some scriptures to apply to your itching ears:
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Many like to sugar coat the verses they have read and change them to fit what they need it to be. They will state that the Bible is outdated and no longer the case.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
If He is the same yesterday, today, and forever… then His Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change, nor does He lie. If the Father, Son, or even the Holy Spirit were to change something, which they don’t, it would change all throughout time. There is no wrapping your head around it because it just isn’t done. So no, the Bible and what we are expected to follow as Christians may not be politically correct, but it IS relevant and it does NOT change.
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Yeeeeaaaahhh… That’s not what He’s saying here. People like to quote that first verse and completely throw out the rest of the Bible…
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
I am unable to post all of that here, so please read that on YouVersion or in your own Bible.
Now, I will say this… it is NOT our job to condemn or shun a person. It is our job to LOVE a person. While at times we are called to correct another Christian (NOT A SINNER), we are to do so in love. If you’re unsure about what that means, then simply don’t attempt it until you are able to receive better teaching on the subject. (By the way, God will not call you to do this very often…) However, yes, we are to judge their fruit. The warning at the beginning of Matthew chapter 7 is kind of a warning to you that people are going to be watching you as well, so clean up your own house and keep it that way… Especially if you are in a place of leadership.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Well, that is all I have for today. Use these scriptures generously and as often as needed to treat any symptoms that cause your soul discomfort. I will follow up with more as needed.
How about some adorable free prints with some of your favorite scriptures on them?
Be sure to check out the matching Free Printable Prayer List on our sister site, Women On The Warpath!
Download your free printables here!
We also have the Pray Without Ceasing print available on products in our Women Bringing Heaven store. Check them out!
Earlier this year, I was scrambling. We were hitting crunch time to do a lot of fundraising in a short amount of time to send the kids in our congregation to church camp. I had only become Children’s Pastor in November and I decided right away that camp needed a priority… but with a small church, how could we get all these kids there?
While for most churches, things like t shirts, calendars, wrapping paper, big dinners, and things of that nature are an obvious option, we did not have the luxury of a budget to go that route. I needed an idea that would be free or cheap to start up, with no overhead so that in the end all that was raised would go directly to the fund it was being raised for.
We were going to need something different than the usual. I had a few of the girls in our church over one day just to hang out and we got to talking.
What else could we do?
One of the girls mentioned a Jog A Thon that her school had just done. It had been successful and raised quite a bit of money for science camp. I replied, “Yeah, but I don’t think we could do much with that in this situation… Those are fun though. I always liked read a thons when I was a kid.” Then it was like the light bulb hit us both at the same time:
The Benefits:
Um, I would list cons except, well, there aren’t any!
I know you’re saying it because before I decided for sure myself to approach the leadership of my church with this idea I wrestled it all out.
Then I realized… We’re not actually PAYING the KIDS. Yeah, they benefit by what the money is raised towards, but no one is actually handing them money. In fact, we are teaching them to build a habit of reading the Bible every day. We are helping them plant those seeds in their hearts. The elders and families of the congregation are encouraging the kids and youth to build a stronger relationship with the Lord!
Two months later, I FINALLY decided to go through with our Bible Read A Thon. I drew up forms and handed them out. Shani put information in our church bulletins that the kids would be looking for sponsors to pledge towards an amount per scripture/chapter/book and that the amount could be capped out. (For younger children, we did per Bible story from a Bible story book. (And that could be read to them by a parent or older sibling.)
Now for the tricky part… There had to be proof that they actually did the reading they said they did… There were options…
Spiritually speaking? Of course! Bibles were being read and hearts were growing! I believe it paid off more in what was read than what was raised. You can’t go wrong with Bible reading!
Financially? Considering how small of a group we had that participated, yes. Definitely. In fact, most of our money for camp was raised in a short amount of time from this fundraiser!
The timing. Because we were in a time crunch and had so many different projects going at one time, I was too distracted to realize I ran this fundraiser during finals. Believe me, my oldest son let me know plenty of times that my timing was terrible. The kids were still reading, but had it been done during a different time they could have read a lot more.
I also would have made better forms. At the time, I was trying out a different Office software than the usual good ol’ Microsoft. I didn’t realize all the formatting issues I would have when it came to print. Simpler would have been better as well. The forms I made were printed on card stock, and I am still very happy with that decision. Those forms went through a lot by the time the fundraiser was over.
Feel free to download this template for your own church’s Bible Read A Thon. You will still have to attach cover letters to both your pledge form and reading logs to explain them, but maybe this can cut out one step for you or give you some ideas to format your own… Speaking of which, if you have any ideas to add to this, please let me know!
Have you heard of Cry Out 16?
On September 23rd, women all over the United States will be uniting in prayer together in a simulcast prayer event.
If you are near Water Valley, KY, you can join Emily, Karen, Judye, and other ladies at Pentecostal Tabernacle. You can find more information on their website by clicking here.
If you are near San Bernardino, CA, you are invited to join Diania (I’m trying to convince her to join us back on RSHTH 😉 ), Shani, and myself (Angie) at Trinity Full Gospel Church. We have a Facebook event set up for this location and you can find more information by going to that page by clicking here.
It is time for us to CRY OUT! Join us in prayer for our nation, our families, and for REVIVAL!
PS: We’d love it if you joined us in our Intercessory Prayer Facebook group, Women on the Warpath!
Happy birthday (well, last week) to us!
In August of 2011, Raising Sticky Hands To Heaven launched. I can’t believe it has already been 5 years! So much has changed, but still the same… I love seeing what God is doing!
We have a lot of big things coming up, and this year brought some exciting things as well. For example, have you joined Women On The Warpath? I think that is probably my favorite part of this blog ministry right now. We actually envisioned something very similar when we first began this blog. To see the dream God gave us at the beginning coming in to existence is exhilarating.
Another dream God gave me a few years ago for Raising Sticky Hands To Heaven was a free online ladies retreat. I’m praying that this can all fall in to place soon. Would you be interested? Let me know!
Alright, lets get to the giveaway… Time to celebrate!
1 blessed winner will receive the following…
Danielle has generously donated some coffee from her favorite coffee shop, Jitters, and a coffee mug. (She has sent me coffee from Jitters before. You WANT this. SO good!)
We are also including 5 gift cards to Amazon.com in the amount of $5 each! 1 $5 gift card for each of the 5 years of Raising Sticky Hands To Heaven! (Okay, I’ll probably mail it out as 1 $25 gift card, but that doesn’t sound as fun…)
This blog post is the fourth installment of a series on church camp. You can find the first post about Kids Camp by clicking this link here, the second post about Junior High Camp by clicking on this link, and the third post about Senior camp can be found by clicking this link.
I should have stated this from the beginning… No one asked me to write this series. I actually had no intention of blogging about church camp at all. Last Thursday, I was working on homeschool planning for this upcoming school year and praying over our family’s direction when I felt that I needed to write this all out. It hit me out of nowhere, I walked in to my laptop, started typing, and what you see is the result. Hopefully I have not upset anyone with my doing this… But what you see is honest and from my heart. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on… shall we?
Alright, so you’ve heard all about what goes on at each camp. Now let me respond to some concerns you may be having… You know that it is very involved to pack everything necessary for one camper to be prepared while on the campground. The cost seems like just one more expense… And what about the fundraising? School is about to start back up when camp is going on and there are other things that you could be doing with your child’s time. So why bother with church camp?
Well, yeah, it is time consuming to pack for camp. You aren’t just packing a suitcase as though you are going to stay in a hotel. Other than food, you need to pack almost as though you are going full blown camping. But would you do it without complaint to send your child to another camp? Scouts camp, sports camp, science camp…
The cost, well, this depends… What campground are you going to? There are some really big camps out there, all frills and they still offer a spiritual experience for you kids and teens. SoCal Youth church camp is pretty basic in the way of amenities, bringing the costs down to be much lower than most others. Nothing fancy, but still nice. Do the campers complain? Not a peep!
Not everyone can afford to send their kids to camp… Fundraising, if done properly, does not have to be as daunting. My personal opinion? It should begin the week that camp ends for the following year. There are many creative ways to go about this and they don’t have to be boring. One idea would be a monthly sponsorship… If you have an idea of how much it will cost to send a kid or teen to camp you can break that down in to monthly increments that if a church member felt lead, they could contribute to. Need more ideas? A quick search on Pinterest will bring more than enough options.
One idea that we used at our church this last year was a Bible Read-A Thon. Just like a regular read-a-thon, but with the Bible. (Hmm, maybe I’ll post the forms I made up for this soon…) Another was that our kids had a “concert”. The music from this service was put on a CD with other recorded music of our kids singing and sold for a donation. We had bake sales, sold candy and soda, had penny marches… And we just barely made it. Of course, we didn’t start getting serious with fundraising until April. Imagine if we had started sooner!
I know. I’m busy too. This is where you have to decide if it is a time investment that is as important to your child’s development as soccer, a trip to an amusement park, or a few days at home playing video games. Which brings us to the big question…
You probably knew by now that this was going to be my answer… Right?
There is something about getting this many kids together from different churches… (big emphasis on that last part, not just the kids from one church, but many…) Giving them a safe place to have fun, make new friends, and experience the outdoors… And then standing back and watching God bless them in a life changing way that will impact the rest of their lives. With no where to be the next day and no responsibilities to go home to each night, kids let all their worship out in chapel. Yes. Church camp is definitely worth it.
How can that be? How can I have suggestions to make it better and still say it is worth it?
Well, sit down and take a deep breath before you read this… My opinions of what would make it better have a whole lot more to do with those of us sending our kids up there, not those running the camp.
I know. Ouch. It is our fault that our kids are not getting more out of camp…
I know, you’re sick of hearing what I have to say by now… But hear me out. Please.
Imagine my excitement when it worked out that Sherry, along with her Mom, daughter, and friend, would be visiting Southern California… I rarely get to see her and she is one of my rocks. I mentioned in the first post that Sherry and I have a history at camp. That her parents were our District Children’s Leaders for most of my childhood… That our Grandparents worked together as pastors in the same district for many years, forging a close friendship, and working hard to build up our campground and attend camp with their churches.
So imagine how much more excited I was when I told Sherry that I wouldn’t be home to see her because I would be at Junior High Camp and she basically said, “Even better! We’ll come up there!” And they did! At the time I didn’t think of the timing being more perfect other than the memories we all shared there. (And believe me, hugging Sherry’s neck in the quad, worshiping with her in morning chapel, and visiting over a Bethel Burger was all fabulous.)
But God had a plan… Their visit wasn’t a fluke. It probably sounds to you as though it worked out almost like a cheesy movie, but in reality it packed a punch! Sherry’s Mom, Debbie, poured in to some of us while there. She reminded me of some of the original vision for the camp and told me some things I did not know. For example: Did you know that 80% of missionaries receive their calling to the mission field while at church camps? That’s a HUGE number!
Many of us adults that were in attendance at camp then got to talking… Those of us that had attended camps had received part or all of our calling while at camp!
Some of us that had backslid later in our teens or as adults recalled times while away from God that we were in a dire place and remembered a moment from camp. Whether it was time in the altar, a conversation with a counselor, a song sung in chapel, or a sermon, those memories started flooding back and we began to reach out to God and make our way back to Him.
When I was a camper we had a phrase, “Take the mountain home with you.” Take it to school. Take it with you wherever you go. Don’t ever let it go. Never lose what God gave you on the mountain. I promise you, the kids that go to church camp take that mountain home with them.
Between Sis. Debbie and a few other “camp veterans” in attendance, I realized how important return volunteers are. Many of these workers were people that had been working at camp when I was a camper. Sis. Ross had been there when I was a little girl. I remembered her praying with me in chapel and doing bed checks at lights out. This year, she was still there working hard along with others, showing us “newbies” the ropes. I gleaned so much from their knowledge and experience!
Some people are called to work at church camp every year. Are you one of them? You don’t know until you pray about it and try it one year. You may be hooked! I will say this, I get why my Grandpa loved it so much now. Whenever the Lord allows, I will be at camp working in one way or another.
This blog post is the third installment of a series on church camp. You can find the first post about Kids Camp by clicking this link here, and the second post about Junior High Camp by clicking on this link.
I think you know me well enough by now to know that I’m just going to lay it out for you right here: We called it Senior Camp when I was growing up. By the way, I wasn’t the only one that couldn’t ditch the “old names”. So I’m not going to stress over it.
Senior Camp was for 9th-12th grades and teens that had graduated from High School but still attended Youth Group. Camp began on Sunday afternoon and ran through Friday morning with chapel, again, in morning and evenings. Though camp did not end until Friday morning, due to a conflict in schedule, I returned on Thursday night and brought our kids home at about the time of lights out. Since the “last day” of camp is actually just waking up, eating breakfast, packing up, cleaning your dorm/cabin, and leaving… I thought leaving 9 hours early wouldn’t hurt.
Our church only sent 2 kids to Senior Camp, my son Jeffrey (15) and another girl from our church the same age. This camp had the largest attendance of all, with 200+ kids!
Unfortunately, I began getting sick the last few days of Junior High Camp after a bad allergy attack. Only a few hours in to Senior Camp and I was laying in my bunk, curled up in a fetal position, and shivering. While everyone was at their first chapel service, I reluctantly went home with the intention to come back. However, my Doctor insisted that I not… something about early bronchitis, double ear and sinus infections, and my being crazy. I decided I should listen, for once.
So instead of giving you a full run down, I will tell you what I have gathered from my son, the girl from my church, posts on Facebook, things I heard when I returned to gather our kids (I did attend the last service), and so forth.
Many of the activities were the same or similar. Jeffrey says that the afternoons were mostly free time. There were more options of things to do. Basketball, throwing around a football, pool, ping pong, horseshoes, baseball, volleyball, etc.
Again, this is Jeffrey giving me the information… my 15 year old son… Chances are if it didn’t catch his eye, then he didn’t take note of it. It is entirely possible that there was much more.
Before the evening services there was a Lip Sync Battle. I caught the last night and it was hilarious!
The majority of what I heard about from the kids was about chapel. I feel that speaks volumes!
Mark McGaffin, Youth Pastor at Higher Vision Church in Valencia, CA, was once again the speaker at this church camp. Sermons had themes such as “You are more than a #hashtag”, “Let It Out” in reference to worship, “Sin is like cheating on God”, and more… But these were the sermons that stuck out most to Jeffrey.
As it always has for as long as I can remember, Senior Camp involves quite a bit of horsing around. Similar to things that go on with kids at school, mostly done in good fun, one cabin pranks another and then that cabin tries to figure out who did it so they can retaliate, and so forth. More than a little annoying, but it seemed that the leaders did their best to keep it under control and have plans to reinforce rules and keep the pranking to a minimum in the future.
Really, if you get this many people together… there is going to be “schtuff”. Not everything is going to flow as smoothly as the smaller camps with the younger kids.
Considering everything, while it would have been nice for the kids and workers that did not want to be a part of it to be picked on, when looking at the big picture… We have to remember this: The enemy is angry and we need to not let him win… both by not acting like teenagers should be expected to act like angels and dwelling on what happened, and by taking measures to lower the incidences of drama next year. After all, not every person that attends church camp is a Christian. Can we expect those that are not saved to behave as we would? For the most part, everything went smoothly and a good majority behaved Christ like.
Our District Youth Directors from SoCal Youth went above and beyond this last week of church camp. Nancy had her baby the second morning of camp. Everyone seemed to step forward and do what they could to help Roque out as needed. Once again, youth pastors were taking part in the services.
When I returned the last night to pick up the kids, I was able to attend the last service. A memory that I will NEVER forget is that of Roque pacing as he prayed on the platform in front of all the kids. He seemed to be warring in the Spirit so that the full Glory of the Lord could fall upon each camper, declaring victory before it happened, and praising God for the victory when it did.
Who wouldn’t want a leader like that for their kids and teens?!